


fools gold

by katwow



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Lesbian Azula (Avatar), Lesbian Katara (Avatar), Team Dynamics, probending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28211877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katwow/pseuds/katwow
Summary: Katara just wants to make it through her third year of a law degree, but the spirits have other plans. Enter Azula, who quickly disrupts that plan.Law school, probending, student journalism, emails and love (?) ensue.
Relationships: Azula/Katara (Avatar)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 131





	1. Chapter 1

_**Ba Sing Se Buzz** _

_Age-old tensions between the Water Tribe and Fire Nation resurface as Azula and Katara fight it out in class_

By Nanouk

I’m sure all our readers remember the two main characters from last semester’s many gossip columns spanning from social sciences to engineering faculties, Fire Nation favorite Azula and Water Tribe bleeding heart Katara. Unfortunately for our tired editors, the pair seem to have converged in the law school halls, according to sources close to the two. 

On the very first day of classes it was revealed that they share the same criminal justice course. We are asking you all to keep Professor Jiang in your thoughts - she’s only a few years from retirement yet we fear this duo could be the end of her. Tensions rose as she posed a hypothetical situation to break the ice, debate beginning immediately as Katara went head to head with Fire Nation’s finest.

Professor Jiang asked students to come up with defenses for either side of a case of shoplifting, most choosing the easier side and defending the store for its harsh punishment of a man accused of stealing food. Katara, ever a social justice warrior, dug deeper to lay blame on the root causes of criminality, namely poverty. Azula took particular interest with this line of argument and was the only student brave enough to contend with Katara’s overwhelming passion.

Sources say the tension in the room was stifling, escalating over the course of the argument. Other students tried to contribute to the discussion but were quickly sidelined by the intense glares between our two favorite instigators.

‘I thought to myself: this can end one of two ways. Either they kiss or one of them storms out’, a classmate dutifully reports one hour after the incident. Unfortunately for our gossip-hungry readers, neither conceded the argument, instead resigning themselves to simmer quietly in their seats. 

Criminal Justice students, we wish you the best of luck this semester seeing as no one paid attention to Professor Jiang’s usually stellar syllabus read-through. Don’t be afraid to swing by the BBSU Buzz offices after your next class - our readers are always hungry for gossip!

* * *

Katara fought her way through the hordes of freshmen and crying parents, lugging her single box of room decor and suitcase of clothes. Now that she was in her third year she’d discovered she no longer needed massive teddy bears or overly large quilts - she had packing down to an art.

Beside her, Suki groaned under the weight of an overfilled crate. ‘Remind me again why you decided to buy every kitchen utensil under the sun?’

So maybe packing was actually a science and she had no clue. ‘They all have their uses, don’t worry. We aren’t in dorms anymore, Suki, we need to provide for ourselves!’

That earned an eye roll from Suki, who jostled a teary-eyed freshman on her way through the campus. Once they emerged from the absolute chaos they dropped the boxes, resting for a moment before heading to their apartment.

Katara spotted a girl surrounded by boxes all alone on the side of the road. She’s pretty, dark hair pin straight down her back in a half-up, half down style. Katara finds her attractive, can read confidence in the tilt of her hips and determination in the set of her shoulders. She should be overwhelmed, but as she turns Katara sees that she’s scowling while talking on the phone.

‘Where are the movers, Le?’ she snarled down the phone, inspecting her perfectly manicured nails. Katara feels briefly horrified to have checked out someone with such a cruel manner.

Suki smirks beside her, clearly catching Katara in the act. ‘You remember Zuko, right?’ Katara nods, having become over acquainted with the firebender after an entire summer spent listening to Sokka pine over him. ‘That’s his sister, Azula. I can’t believe you haven’t met her, she’s doing law too.’

Katara gapes, dumbfounded that the woman now barking orders and threats to an unseen service worker is somehow related to the awkward and shy man she vaguely knows.

Then again, Sokka is completely gone on him so he might not be a completely reliable source.

Hours later the pair have unpacked the many boxes Katara had deemed absolutely necessary and they slump onto the lumpy couch they’d picked up at the local charity shop. Katara stretches, cat-like, when there’s a knock at the door.

Sokka pushes the door open, clearly disregarding anyone’s privacy in favor of snooping.

‘Happy housewarming!’ Aang cries from behind Sokka, beaming as he pulls Toph into their apartment. They exchange greetings, Sokka choosing to exaggeratedly hug Suki while Toph punches them on the arm.

‘It looks great!’ Toph says sarcastically.

‘Yeah, I love that couch, where’d you guys find it!’ Aang agrees, clearly missing Toph’s overused blind joke.

‘At a charity shop, that one in the lower ring? It was a total bitch to drag across campus, we passed the same crying freshman girl like four times before she said goodbye to her parents.’ Suki explains, kicking up her feet on their makeshift coffee table as they assembled on the couch and the carpeted floor. 

‘We passed this really rude girl, Azula I think her name was?’ Katara said, more asking than stating. 

‘She was yelling down the phone at some movers, surrounded by piles of boxes. It was so weird.’ Suki confirmed.

‘I’m sure she was just stressed, you guys obviously know how hard it is to move without any help’ Aang, always the optimist, added.

‘No, she’s like that’ Toph sighed, blowing her bangs out of her face. Suki and Katara raised their eyebrows at each other.

She obviously felt the incredulous stares thrown her way because she immediately became defensive. ‘What! We had a biology gen ed together last year, I made her do all the experiments since. Y’know’ Here she waved her hands in front of her eyes. ‘She was honestly kinda funny.’

‘Zuko doesn’t talk about her much’ there was an audible groan as everyone braced themselves for Sokka’s endless pining. ‘He says they’re starting to get closer now that they’re out of home. Have you guys seen his new hair yet? It’s half red now, it looks so cool…’

Katara and Suki made fake puking faces at each other across the room, but Toph didn’t have the same tact. ‘You’re gonna make me sick if you don’t stop,’ she said, gagging in Sokka’s direction.

The night passed quickly, Katara ordering pizza as the sky darkened. Once Sokka began pining again, however, she decided enough was enough.

‘Pack it up, Romeo. I’ve got class early tomorrow and I need to get my beauty sleep. Go back to your own rooms you heathens!’ Katara stands and makes a shooing motion, all but pushing them out of the room.

Suki looks up from her phone, clearly amused by Katara’s antics. ‘I’m really gonna have to deal with your pedantic ass all summer’ she sighs, annoyance betrayed by the affection in her eyes. ‘I’ll keep it down out here, you go to sleep.’

Katara, refreshed after her shower and coffee, was early to her Criminal Justice class the next day. She waited outside the law building, tapping out a text to Suki when she noticed she wasn’t the only one there.

The person’s shoes caught her eyes first, hulking as they were. They were some dark gothic monstrosity worn over fishnets. Katara looked up slowly, trying for cool as she observed her short blood red dress and the white turtleneck underneath. By the time she made it up their body, Azula was already smirking back at her. She seemed amused at some untold joke, happy to bask in Katara’s discomfort at being caught in the act. There was a dare in her eyes, as if Katara’s not-so-subtle gaze was a game somehow. 

‘Good morning’ she drawled, smug as she seemed to expand into Katara’s attention. Katara had to take a deep breath to wash away the discomfort in her stomach.

‘I’m Katara’, she smiled, offering her hand for Azula to shake. Katara was surprised to find her hand hot like a brand.

‘Azula.’ she replied.

Just as Katara was starting to feel awkward in the silence Azula created, the TA arrived with the keys and they shuffled inside. She chose a seat near the front, pulling out her laptop as she settled.

The professor walked in a few minutes later, fussing with her laptop at the front of the class. The students shared a groan when the word ‘icebreaker’ blared across the screen, thinking they would be spared now that they were third years.

‘Good morning students! I’m Professor Jiang and together we’ll wade through the murky waters of the Ba Sing Se criminal justice system. Today we’ll be doing an icebreaker, but it won’t be like the boring freshman ones. You’ve all been studying law for at least two years and I’d like to see your debate skills.’ She clicked over to the next slide.

‘You have 10 minutes to examine the details of the case on the board, after which you will present your defense of either side in front of the class. Good luck!’ Professor Jiang smiled like she knew exactly how much pain she was causing.

Fifteen minutes later, Katara found herself arguing loudly with none other than Azula.

‘How could you say that! Would you rather his children just starve?’ she asked loudly, shocked.

‘I would rather his children come into state custody should he be unable to care for them. What if he was simply trying to resell the food at a higher price?’ the dark-haired girl in front of her asked, calm and poised. 

‘But that wasn’t the question. There are far too many orphans in the Earth Kingdom as it is, why not allow the man to feed his children?’ Katara tried to read anything behind the carefully constructed mask of indifference to no avail: Azula was just as heartless as she’d heard.

‘You seem to forget, Katara, we aren’t studying social work. I intend to graduate with a law degree, not whatever scrap of paper you’ll use to become a bleeding heart.’ Azula smirked, basking in her classmate’s attention and shock.

‘I feel sorry for whoever you end up representing, I hope you don’t treat them with the same disregard as you do in this mock case.’ Katara sneered.

‘That’s rich! I’m sure your clients will appreciate how much of a busybody you are, you Water tri-’ 

‘Let’s bring it back to the topic now. You all raised some great points today!’ Professor Jiang interrupted them, opening a new document on the screen behind them. ‘Now, if you turn to page 3 of your syllabus there’s a list of all your assignments…’

Katara was the first out the door when class was dismissed, already furiously typing a message to Suki. She seethed all the way through her next classes, and had worked herself into a blinding rage by the time she got to the gym.

‘Hey Toph’ she mumbled, trying not to let her anger bleed into her words. 

‘What’s gotten your panties in a twist, sugar queen?’ Toph asked, perched on the edge of the bench as Katara stretched. 

‘That Azula girl is in my Criminal Law class and we had a huge fight today. It was so embarrassing, the professor just sat there and watched me lose it. It was like she was completely incapable of compassion, Azula I mean, she just wouldn’t hear any of my points at all. I know we’re studying law but surely it’s healthy to show a little kindness!’ Katara let it all out as she wrapped her wrists carefully in the Southern Water Tribe fashion.

Toph hummed absently, clearly bored by the conversation as she cleaned between her toes.

‘I just can’t believe someone could be so heartless! It was like talking to a brick wall. A rude, emotionless brick wall.’ Satisfied with her clothing, she stood up straight again.

‘I honestly didn’t mind Azula that much last year,’ Toph said, obviously feeling brave. ‘Maybe it’s because we have a similar background but I don’t think she’s as bad as you think.’

‘Well, you never had to debate her’ Katara said, pulling on her boots.

Toph rolls her eyes as they walk into the gym. There’s a small group of people assembled inside, the instructor already talking at the head of the room. Katara and Toph hurry over and join them.

‘You’ll be split into groups depending on your element. I’ll take the water benders, Ann will take Earth and Juno will take fire. Okay, let’s move!’

‘See you soon’ Katara whispered to Toph, suddenly nervous. Toph nods before walking towards the rest of the earthbenders.

‘Katara! It’s so good to see you here.’ Katara grinds her teeth before turning a false smile to Han.

‘Hey, Han. It’s good to see you too.’ She tries to affect care but can’t seem to muster it after the day she’s had.

‘So, you’re trying your luck at probending, huh? I’ll tell you, it’s hard to make the A-team. I’ve been trying for the past two years and I’ve never quite gotten there. I think this year might be my year though, now that Arlo has left.’ He chatters on, some absolute drivel about how he’s Tui’s gift to waterbending. Katara smiles and nods, settling into her stance as the instructor runs through some basic forms.

It isn’t lost on her that she’s the only woman waterbender there - being one of a precious few southerners at the university, she had expected it. What she hadn’t expected was that all these men - overgrown boys really - could hardly bend at all.

She tried to match their skill (or lack thereof) during the forms, but she knew if she actually wanted to get in she’d have to try harder in the sparring round. 

‘Don’t worry Katara, I’ll go easy on y-’ Katara catches Han off guard, whipping him before he has a chance to get his bearings. They circle each other a moment, him clearly recalculating her strength.

She goes a bit bigger, bends his water whip back at him and striking his shoulder. He pauses, clearly recalculating her strength.

Katara advances, sending a jet of water at his chest. She gets closer, dodging his attacks and collecting his water to bend back at his shoulders. He topples over, mouth in a perfect ‘o’. She steps back and walks to her corner, waiting for the next challenger. 

She beats the rest of the boys easily, almost one-handed. Her chi barely protests after a summer back down south and she finds herself wondering why she hadn’t considered probending in the last two years. 

In the next round, benders test their skills against the other elements. Katara easily beats an earthbender, cutting through the stone rings used specifically for probending easily. She gets called out by the instructors a few times for using continuous streams of water, but it’s pretty clear that she’s the strongest water bender there.

Before long she’s fighting Toph, fearing for her actual life. Toph is brutal, laughing maniacally as Katara nervously dodges her grandiose attacks. Before long, however, Katara regains her bearings. 

‘What’s wrong, sugar queen? Scared of a little dirt?’ Toph taunts, and Katara decides to go all in. She launches a barrage of watery punches, testing out the probending style. Toph grins back harder, glad for the challenge.

The two weave in and out of attacks, advancing and retreating. Toph has the upper hand for a split second when she cuffs Katara with stone manacles, but is cut off by the instructor.

‘Hey! You can’t bend the disks out of shape!’ Ann shouts, effectively drawing all eyes to the fight.

Toph looks sheepish for a moment, a strange expression on her usually sly face. Katara exploits this to send a burst of water at her, dousing her head. Toph shakes it off like a dog before sending a disk straight to Katara’s head. She ducks, only just missing it, and Toph is called out again. 

The instructors decide Toph is having too much fun breaking the rules with Katara and turn her attention to another waterbender. Katara spars with a firebender, testing the waters with a scrawny looking girl before going for the big guns.

Everything’s going pretty well and it’s clear that her skills come out on top each time. On her last rotation through the room, she heads to the group of fire benders, scoping out a partner. The instructor notices this and pulls her towards an empty mat, disappearing in search of a partner before Katara can ask what’s going on.

A few seconds later, Azula steps onto the mat. She her eyes scan up Katara’s body leisurely, putting her on edge.

‘Back for round two?’ Azula taunts, pulling flame into her hand easily.

‘I’d watch it, Azula. I’ve beaten every other firebender in this gym and I’m sure I’ll beat you too.’ Katara tugs on the remnants of her Chi, suddenly flaring back to life.

‘Alright, ladies, get on with it’ the trainer calls, on the edge of her seat.

Katara charges forward, aiming sharp jets of water at Azula’s head. Azula dodges, creating an arc of fire with her responding kick.

Katara jumps back, flyaway hairs singed by the move. Azula smirks.

‘Is that right, Water Tribe?’ Azula remarks, provoking Katara to shoot water directly into her leering mouth. She growls, shooting jet after jet of fire at Katara. Katara dodges these and moves in closer, purposely wetting Azula’s infuriatingly perfect hair with a spurt of water.

Azula pauses for a moment, blinking through the water. Katara seizes the opportunity to hit her on the shoulders, sending her flying backwards. Katara jumps atop her and from there it devolves into a wrestling match.

Katara grabs at the offending hair, Azula clawing at her arms and bucking her hips to flip them over. By the time the instructors intervene, Katara’s got a mouthful of Azula’s shoulder and Azula’s claws are digging into Katara’s scalp.

‘Hey! Enough of that!’ Ann scolds, Juno helping her pull the two apart.

Azula stands first, clinging to the last vestiges of her dignity. Katara has no such qualms and stalks off the mat. 

‘If any of you go snitching to that stupid paper, I’ll have your heads.’ Azula snarls to the gathered crowd of gleeful spectators. ‘Hand me that, now.’ She holds her hand out for someone’s phone, deleting the videos effectively by incinerating the thing.

Katara walks over to Toph, more than pissed.

‘See! She’s such a bitch. I don’t know how I’ll survive an entire semester of criminal law with her there’ She sulks, walking with Toph back to the changerooms.

‘Yeah… especially since we’re on the A-team together’ Toph replies, gesturing at the newly posted team lists.

Katara was fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> off we go on a journey of hatred, classes, probending, journalism, sapphism and more!
> 
> i'll try to update this regularly, hopefully around once a week
> 
> cheer me on on twitter @kyoshixrangi or tumblr @zukka-supremacy
> 
> see you for chapter two!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a quick note: i added to the end of chapter one so if ur going from there to here make sure you check to see what happened!

**THE GAANG**

**Suki:** i didn’t think it was possible to love princess more than i already do but then 

**Suki:** Image size 2.3 mb

[Image ID: a screenshot of the following article from the BSSU Buzz. 

‘PRINCESS’ ADVICE

Princess,

I recently found out that my boyfriend of three years cheated on me at the very beginning of our relationship. He’s committed and we’ve built a life together but I’m scared that this could bring it all tumbling down.

His best (girl) friend went through a tough breakup a few years ago. Her ex at the time was super mad about the breakup and she decided to make him jealous by showing up at a party with my boyfriend. They pretended they were together which included holding hands and a few kisses and I thought it hadn’t gone much further than that. Our relationship was only fresh at that time but we had definitely established monogamy. I had agreed to let my friend ‘date’ my boyfriend given a few conditions.

A few days ago I was chatting with my friend and she mentioned that my boyfriend was always good in the sack. I asked her to elaborate since I thought they hadn’t dated and she told me they fake dated a few years back and after a few drinks they slept with each other. I thought she was joking at first since she said it so casually but when I checked she was totally serious. 

She told me she hadn’t thought we were actually together and that my boyfriend reassured her that we weren’t exclusive. I honestly don’t know what to think, it sounds like it was a genuine misunderstanding on her part but in his case...

We’ve had so many wonderful moments since then, I’ve met his friends and I’m basically part of his family but now it feels like it’s all been fake. It’s like our whole relationship was built on a lie. What do I do? Should I confront him about it? Should I let it go since it was a while ago? I’m not sure what would be appropriate in this situation.

\- Conflicted Chun

My dear Chun,

Break up with him. No, I’m serious. If you had an open conversation about boundaries and the nature of your relationship and he violated that trust to sleep with your friend, he deserves to be out on his ass for a few weeks. I would say I’m surprised to have received such an urgent request for help in our first week back on campus but then again, I know men. 

This is an official warning to all the men out there who are excited for another year of complete fuckery. From now on, all relationship drama sent in will be met with my new motto: ‘dump him’.

And for the women out there, try something new this year. They say university is the time to experiment, and if you’ve thus far only done so in your science classes why not widen your horizons? Have fun out there.

\- Princess

End image ID]

 **Toph:** that’s my kind of woman right there

 **Sokka:** can u even print that in the earth kingdom lol

 **Aang:** i actually fully support that message wow

 **Toph:** is it just wishful thinking or does she sound like a mean lesbian?  
i just have the urge to laugh at men with her

 **Suki:** actually yes. maybe thats why i like her so much

 **Sokka:** u guys scare me… thank you for ur service tho

 **Toph:** lol anyways  
we can definitely arrange something that will get us onto the column

 **Suki:** yeah katara seemed to be in the paper all the time last year

 **Katara:** apparently fighting earth kingdom bigots is newsworthy. i hate it here

 **Toph:** you’ve already been in it this year! did anyone see last weeks headline lmao

 **Aang:** i was actually kind of proud of u for that kat

 **Toph:** but how do we get onto the princess’ column though

 **Sokka:** its actually harder than you’d think  
I’ve written in a few times now and she never answers me :(

 **Katara:** that’s because you don't ask for advice you just publicly pine

 **Toph:** tru

 **Sokka:** and what about it? is being gay a crime all of a sudden?

 **Katara:** yes lol

 **Suki:** speaking of zuko  
are you guys busy today?  
he said he can get us a discount at his uncle’s boba place :D

 **Sokka:** i’m always down to clown when it comes to food

 **Toph:** i’ve been craving boba ever since summer started  
gaoling is such a shithole they dont even have iced tea smh

 **Aang:** same! I’ve got some readings to do but i’ll just bring them with me

 **Sokka:** is katara in?

 **Suki:** yeah she said she’ll come, she’s already stressing about coursework so i had to convince her this was a study date haha

 **Katara:** im in this chat too suki >:-(

* * *

The Jasmine Dragon is busy when they arrive, walls a calming shade of green. Lampshades of coloured glass create a green canopy over their heads, producing just enough light for students to study by. The floorboards are a dark wood, and Zuko’s uncle, a portly old man named Iroh who insists they call him uncle, comes to greet them personally.

They head for the back of the store, tucked away on a large wooden table. Katara and Aang take one end and set up their laptops while the rest look at the pastries at the counter. Katara rolls her eyes at Sokka’s self-conscious flirting but is shocked when the answering voice seems just as shy as him (but no less interested).

Katara starts on a particularly juicy (oversized) reading from her commercial law prof, looking up for a moment when her friends return from the counter. She’s lost in the fascinating world of Earth Kingdom professionals when someone slams a plastic cup down in front of her.

‘Didn’t think I’d see you here, Katara’ A familiarly irritating voice calls above her.

Katara jerks her head up, shocked by the intrusion. ‘Why are you here?’ she says, already combative.

‘I work here, obviously.’ She gestures to her apron and name tag. ‘I suppose I could ask you the same thing, but I’ll spare your friends the indignant screeching.’ Azula sneers at her. ‘Don’t bother doing that reading, the Republic City paper is much shorter and says the same thing.’ She saunters away, unaware of the damage she’s caused the table.

' _That’s_ Azula?’ Sokka asks, jaw near the floor. ‘I can see why Zuko never talks about her.’

‘She’s hot, right? I can’t be the only one who thinks she’s hot.’ Toph asks, somehow nonchalant about the whole situation. Katara suspects she’s just saying that to stir them up but it doesn’t work.

Suki ignores Toph, turning to Katara. ‘At least she gave you some tips for the homework?’ she says hesitantly.

‘Yeah, right. She’s probably just trying to sabotage me. We’re both at the top of the class and it’s always a dog fight to see who actually gets it.’

Aang smiles at her. ‘I’m sure you’ll place first again this year, but one reading won’t hurt your chances.’ He sips his tea. ‘Man, Zuko’s uncle really knows his stuff!’ he says to Sokka.

Sokka launches into some long-winded explanation of everything he knows about the store, most of which centres on when Zuko works and what Zuko does in the store. It would be creepy if Zuko wasn’t so obviously gone on Sokka.

Katara wonders where the tension between her and Azula even began. It’s not like they’ve interacted in the two years she’s already been at BSSU, but she supposes that’s something of a miracle since they run in similar circles. It’s quite easy for her to reject someone who disagrees with her, but that was shaping up to be almost impossible. Katara resolves to meditate a few more times a week in the hopes that Tui and La (or any spirit at this point) will take it easy on her for the rest of the semester.

At least the cafe is great for studying, despite the dragon behind the counter. The low rumble of students studying and clinking ceramics provides the perfect backdrop for Katara’s repetitive readings, and the table is big enough for each of them to spread out and work.

They while away the afternoon like that, studying and eating. At some point Sokka starts throwing bits of pastry into Aang’s mouth, all of which he catches flawlessly (no thanks to Sokka).

Things quickly take a turn for the worse half an hour later when Suki gets bored of her paper and starts throwing pieces of custard pastries to Toph, who has no hope of catching them. They cause such a ruckus that Zuko has to come by and nervously ask them to quieten down, which of course results in him joining them and adding to the cacophony.

Katara’s given up on studying for the day (she decided that it wasn’t worth it after jam had gotten all over her planner), and throws a particularly goopy piece to the other end of the table where Toph sits, jaw unhinged.

At the last moment, Toph turns towards the sound of an irritated Azula, which of course means that the custard-pastry-sugar mess hits her right on her solar plexus. She’s taken her apron off for some reason and now fumes at Katara for the stain on her white tee.

She stares at Katara, eyes burning with an intensity Katara’s never seen. She almost swears there’s smoke coming out of Azula’s ears. 

‘Zuko.’ Azula says. ‘My shift’s over, I’m going home.’ Katara feels herself wither a bit under Azula’s gaze. ‘Get back to the counter before Uncle gets mad, I know you can’t stand to see him disappointed.’

She stomps away, leaving the table completely dumbfounded in her wake. They’re all frozen for a moment before Toph bursts into laughter, Sokka, Aang and Suki joining in. 

‘I can’t believe it! You threw cake at her?’ Toph asks, still piecing together the interaction from what she could sense. Katara nods, eyes lowered shamefully.

‘Pastry, actually,’ Aang gasps between giggles. The four of them laugh a little too loud for Katara’s taste (or dignity), but before long Zuko clears his throat awkwardly.

‘Um… Sorry guys, I should head back. I didn’t realise it had been so long.’ He blushes, looking anywhere but Sokka’s face. They all wave goodbye and thank him for the tea and extra pastries, Sokka’s eyes fixed on him until he’s turned the corner.

‘Azula seems… interesting’ Aang says, ever the optimist.

Katara, finally snapped of her shock, moans in the direction of the table. ‘I can’t do this anymore! I swear she’s everywhere I turn, I just can’t get rid of her.’

‘She’s the third member of our pro-bending team’ Toph explains, fiddling with her straw. ‘Her and Katara are pretty well-acquainted after their sparring session at try-outs.’

‘You never told me you actually fought her!?’ Sokka cries, overexcited. ‘Who won? And why wasn’t it in the paper?’

‘Neither of us won, stupid.’ Katara replies, irritated and ashamed. 

‘It kinda devolved into a weird wrestling match, the instructors had to get involved.’ Toph explained.

‘They said we have to learn how to get along otherwise they’d pull us from the a-team.’ Katara adds.

‘Wait, is anyone else thinking what I’m thinking…’ Aang says.

‘You should totally ask Atsuko for advice!’ Sokka all but yells.

‘I have to admit, this could kill two cat-owls with one stone.’ Suki says nonchalantly.

Katara pauses for a moment, considering. ‘I don’t know, guys, I don’t really want to air my dirty laundry for the whole school to see…’

‘Don’t worry, Katara, she always gives the writers a pseudonym. She’s pretty good about it, you can even ask her not to publish whatever advice she gives.’ Aang says.

‘Wait a minute… Aang, you’ve been writing to Atsuko without any intention of cross-campus fame?’ Sokka gapes at him. ‘How could you betray us like this?’

‘I wonder what advice he asks for.’ Suki muses, content to watch the drama unfold in front of her.

‘I bet it was advice for getting over Ka-’ Toph begins but is soon tackled to the ground by Aang, Sokka cheering them on gleefully.

Katara barely seems to notice, lost in her head as she considers what she should write to Atsuko. She pulls up her emails and begins typing out a message as Zuko comes back over to tell them to quieten down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the long wait!! next one will go up sooner and be longer :)
> 
> as always pls leave comments and harrass me on twitter @kyoshixrangi i need it <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> princess replies, bending training, studying.

The class was buzzing with excitement by the end of the lesson, each one keen to read the newest edition of the BSSU Buzz. Katara rolled her eyes at their excitement, but secretly looked forward to the princess’ column. She just hoped she wasn’t in another one of the trashy gossip articles that the students seemed to lap up.

As soon as the professor dismissed them, a few students bolted from the room, clearly keen to buy the paper copies at the nearest stall. Katara privately thought it was a little pretentious to make their magazine only available in print - this was the third century, everyone was capable of looking things up on their phones.

Katara stayed behind after the hordes had left, keen to discuss an assignment with Professor Jiang. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one.

‘Azula! Katara!’ Jiang chuckled. ‘I would say I’m surprised you guys are missing part of lunch to come talk to me, but of course I’m not. What can I help you with?’

Katara motioned for Azula to go first, hoping to avoid any conflict with the firebender. Azula motioned more aggressively for Katara to step forward, turning away with a smile. Irritated, Katara did as Azula wanted.

‘I just wanted to ask about the essay. What was the character limit?’

‘There’s no limit, just keep it to a page please. And don’t write them super small, these old eyes can’t read too well.’ Jiang laughed, and Katara found herself laughing with her, eager to please the warm older woman. 

She made to leave, but Jiang called her back. ‘Katara, wait. Azula, come here.’ Azula walked over reluctantly. ‘I heard you guys were in a physical fight after that first class.’ She looked between the two women. ‘That argument was a little intense, and you’d both do well to tune it down so you don’t come to blows again.’ She looked at Azula here. ‘You need to learn a little empathy, see things from a different perspective. I’m sure you’ll come across clients you don’t agree with, and you need to be prepared to argue whatever they need. And Katara, not everything is life or death. You need to detach a little bit from each case - you can’t save everyone.’

There was an awkward pause as the pair steadfastly avoided each other's eyes.

‘Quite the opposites.’ Azula said, clearly uncomfortable at Jiangs words.

‘Thank you, professor. Is that all?’ Katara asked, all but running out the door at Jiang’s nod.

Her face burned as she returned home, picking up one of the stupid papers on the way. Jiang was right, she couldn’t fight everyone’s battles. That didn’t stop her from trying, though.

Katara opened the door and waved ‘hi’ to Suki, who seemed to be on the phone. She dumped her bag on the couch and slumped onto it, hoping to take her mind off the criticism by reading the absolute trash that filled the BSSU Buzz.

After reading an article about the upcoming pai sho games and the air nomad society, she finally flipped to her favorite part - the gossip column.

Dear Princess,

There’s a girl in my classes who goes out of her way to make my life difficult. Every lecture, she finds something to debate with me, and she refuses to see my side of the story every time. It feels like she’s deliberately baiting me, but I can hardly ignore her when she’s saying things so obviously against my morals!

But to make matters worse, we’re now in a situation where we have to work together as a team. It’s my literal worst nightmare! I have no idea how to make her see my point of view in a normal discussion, how am I meant to work with her to do anything actually productive? The other members of our team and our supervisors have warned us that if we step out of line, we’ll be removed. It’s gone too far, and if I make one wrong move I could face serious consequences!

At this point, I’m desperate for help. What can I do to make our interactions less excruciating?

\- Kind Kya

Kya,

It’s rare that I receive a request for advice on a situation I’ve actually lived through. Sure, I’m wise beyond my years, and if I don’t have any suggestions I’ll usually go with something mean just to keep it interesting, but for you, Kya, I have genuine empathy.

It may shock you to hear this, but I can come off harsh in everyday conversation. When I respect someone, I love to push them and wind them up, just to see how far I can go. So of course I’ve experienced friction with my class and teammates - it’s as natural as breathing.

You say this rival just doesn’t see your point of view - could it be that they’re doing something similar? Being obtuse for the sake of it? If you were talking about a man this would be almost certain - I hear they just love to play devil’s advocate - but it seems you need to do a little more digging to discern this woman’s motives. There is, of course, the possibility that they’re genuinely bigoted and cruel, but I can only hope their time at university will beat it out of them. 

As for the fact that you’re team-mates, I can only recommend that you focus on maintaining the stability of the team as a whole. Communication is key, as is delegation, so focus on creating a more supportive workspace and keep your distance from the ‘problem child’ if possible.

Hope that helps.  
Princess

Katara sits back to ponder the advice, but her moment of reflection is quickly disrupted by her phone pinging on the table in front of her.

 **Aang:** GUYS! Katara made it in!

 **Suki:** i just finished reading the article. she sounded strangely genuine?

 **Toph:** that’s gotta be one of the more boring responses  
did u have to write about something so lame katara

 **Katara:** hey! you were the ones that suggested i bare my heart in the school paper, cut me some slack

 **Sokka:** i can’t believe she answered you and not me >:-(

 **Toph:** who wants to join a second groupchat where we use fake emails and make up crazy stories to get into the paper!!

 **Sokka:** ME PLEASESKNDSANFKSJLF

 **Katara:** toph we have training in an hour, please don’t get too carried away

 **Toph:** sure thing sugar queen

Katara does a worksheet before rushing out at the last minute, only just remembering to grab her gym bag on the way out. She runs to the tree she’d said she’d meet Toph at, and Toph laughs in her face at the exertion.

‘Get lost trying to read into the princess’ words?’ Toph inquires, setting a leisurely pace for the pair.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Katara replies curtly. ‘Have you and Sokka made any plans yet?’

Toph dives into a long-winded explanation of the multiple fictional characters they’ve crafted to make their plea for advice believable. Katara zones out somewhere between the third and fourth, thinking about Jiang’s comments.

Katara and Azula were as different as can be. Water and fire - you couldn’t get further apart than that. She shuddered to think what could have happened if she hadn’t tamped down the initial attraction she had felt towards Azula. It was clear that water and fire stayed apart for a reason. 

When she tuned back in, Toph was rambling on about a hog monkey and a bucket of cabbages. Katara didn’t even want to know what was going on inside the earthbender’s mind.

Toph continued to chatter on about her masterplan as they got dressed for training. Once they stepped into the arena Katara was irritated to find Azula already stepping through some firebending katas.

‘About time you join me’ Azula drawls, barely breaking a sweat after a particularly complex set. Katara decides then and there that she hates her.

‘Alright! Today we’ll be mixing up the teams and trying to familiarise the newbies with some of the rules.’ The coach eyes Katara and Toph as she mentions the rules. She splits the three teams up, mixing around each bender until they’re no longer with their teammates.

Katara’s with a stoic looking firebender who introduces himself as Chan and a quiet earthbender named Chun. The firebender is a little intimidating, if only because he clearly thinks himself above Katara and Chun, so Katara decides to keep her usual cheerful chatter to a minimum.

They do a few warm ups together, practicing dodging and hitting. Katara is continually called out for using streams of water instead of the short bursts required of probending. After the fourth call out (and the fifth eye-roll from Chan), Katara decides to go get a drink. 

She passes Azula, who is of course dominating the other members in terms of skill. Katara can faintly smell burning hair, and dreads going head to head with Azula. She’s quite attached to her hair loopies (and eyebrows).

‘Psst’ she whispers to Toph.

‘What’s up, Sugar Queen?’ Toph asks, dodging a blast of fire and hitting the waterbender easily.

‘I’m really bad at this. Like really bad. The rules just aren’t sticking, and it doesn’t help that I can’t create icicles.’ Katara whispers back, slumping against the wall in her despondency.

‘Wait, am I talking to Katara? The girl who became a waterbending master at sixteen? The woman who was begged to start a waterbending academy in the south but came to little ol’ Ba Sing Se for a taste of university life and justice? Surely the Katara I know would just study the rules, re-read the scrolls and adapt.’ Toph replies while performing a complex set of blocks and attacks.

‘I guess you’re right. Off I go, then’ Katara takes a deep breath and slips on a more determined mask. She returns to the mat only for the instructors to tell them to find their actual teams and prepare for some practice matches.

Toph swaggers over, Azula following behind with a sour look on her face. 

‘I think we need a few ground rules before we begin.’ Azula drawls, looking distrustfully at both of them. ‘You both seem to have a problem with the rules. Learn them before our match next week, or face the consequences. Do not touch me without permission, and don’t ask about Fire Nation politics.’

‘I second that, but you both already knew that.’ Toph says with a grin.

‘Fine. I couldn’t care less about the Fire Nation anyways.’ Katara rolls her eyes. 

They move to the small bending arena set up and take their places. Luckily for Katara, they’re facing off with Chan, Hanh and some other buff earthbender. She can practically feel the resentment oozing off them in waves as they stand in second after a group of girls.

Katara takes her stance and waits for the bell to ding. Mentally, she runs through the rules for waterbenders, only remembering at the last minute to bend water only from her zone.

The bell dings, and they’re immediately faced with a barrage of attacks from the opposition. Katara pulls up a shield of water to ward off a blast of flame, weaving through the disks of earth flying everywhere to take a more active stance. She tries to send out a few attacks, but is gradually pushed back by the aggression of the B team.

Katara and Toph are pushed into the second zone almost simultaneously, while Azula manages to hold her own at the front. She moves fluidly, dodging and weaving until she spots an opening and blasting her adversaries when the opportunity arises. 

Katara can’t spend too long looking at her though, and soon has to redirect her efforts towards pushing the other team back. She sends whip after whip at the earthbender across from her, only just managing to cut them off before a penalty, to no avail. Toph is having no trouble with Hanh, however, and pushes him back easily with a disk to the solar plexus.

‘You can hit them on the head with water, you know.’ Azula drawls, barely breathing harder despite her near constant movement.

Inspired, Katara sends a jet of water to Chan’s face, catching him off guard. He drops the disks he was bending and goes to fix his hair, leaving an opening for Azula to blast him backwards. Being the dumbass that he is, he jumps backwards in a panic and is sent to the second zone. 

‘Hey! He was mine, Azula!’ Katara shouts, incensed.

‘Looks like you were a little too late, Water Tribe.’ Azula smirks.

Toph knocks the firebender back a zone while the pair bicker, and they advance into the B team’s territory. 

Happy to be out of the second zone, Katara gets a little overzealous with her bending.

‘Hey!’ A whistle blows. ‘Penalty to the A team, Katara move back one zone.’ the instructor calls.

Their team was now staggered across three zones, and Katara was having trouble landing any hits on their opposition. She sent attack after attack towards the other team, but due to the distance they could easily block her hits. She resigns herself to failure for this round and half-heartedly blocks each of their hits.

Toph manges to move the opposing firebender back a zone, but without support on both sides Azula seems unable to land any hits. Azula is pushed back, and the opposition advances.

The bell dings, signalling the end of the round. It goes to the B team, who look infuriatingly smug at their victory.

Azula is fuming and Katara isn’t far behind her as they retreat to the bench. The C and B teams face off as the trio argue.

‘None of that would have happened if the two of you actually knew the rules.’ Azula all but yells, somehow maintaining an imperious and haughty tone.

‘Cool it, Azula. We did just fine.’ Toph assures her, already reclining and getting intimate with her feet.

‘In case you haven’t forgotten, we have a match at the end of the week and I happen to want to beat the next group of smirking men.’ Azula scowls.

‘I’m sure Toph and I will be able to pick up the rules by then, I just need to do a little revision.’ Katara says in an effort to placate the firebender.

‘Seriously, how hard is it to bend the discs in their original form?’ Azula asks Toph incredulously. ‘And you, Toph told me you were something of a master back home. Having your doubts up here in the big city?’ Azula scolds, lip curling cruelly.

‘It’s extremely unnatural for waterbenders to use only spurts of water, let alone rely solely on liquid. I’m sorry I haven’t exactly caught on in the one week I’ve been on the team!’ Katara fumes. 

‘The other waterbenders seem to manage just fine!’ Azula replies, gesturing to the ring where Hanh and Chun are holding their weight. ‘I will not have the two of you ruin my chances of victory. I don’t care if you have plans, we’re practicing here again tomorrow night. I’m going to go talk to the instructors about getting extra time booked. We so desperately need it.’ Azula storms off in a huff.

‘Well that was awful.’ Katara complains, slumping back into her seat. ‘I’m starting to think Azula and I will never get along.’

‘Cheer up, Katara. By the end of the week we should be fine, since it seems like we’ll be here every day until the match.’ Toph replies, seemingly nonplussed by spending the whole week together.

‘Whatever. I’ll text you later, I’m going home for a shower.’ She waves goodbye to Toph, pausing to say thanks to the instructors before she leaves.

Katara’s kicking herself the entire way home. She had thought that just because the instructors thought she was good enough for the A-team she’d pick the sport up easily. Turns out the other teams had a definite advantage due to their experience. Even Hanh had been able to beat her in the new and overwhelming setting of the arena. It didn’t help that he was just as smug as Azula was after all their fights, an extra edge to it because of his blatant northern sexism.

Katara allowed herself to wallow until she stood at the bottom of the staircase to her apartment. There, she took a few deep breaths and tried to feel a little better. She decided she’d make sea prunes for dinner, a Northern delicacy she’d only recently begun to appreciate and which Suki loved.

She lost herself in the flow of their tiny kitchen, bending water into the soup and stirring it with a flick of her hand. This was what she loved, more than anything: the ease that bending brought into her life, the myriad practical uses she had found for it in the home. 

By the time Katara settled onto the couch with a bowl of stew and her emails open in front of her, Suki burst through the door with Sokka and Toph in tow. 

‘Did you make sea prunes again?’ Sokka asked warily, holding his nose.

‘Grow up, Sokka, they’re so tasty. Thanks for cooking, Katara!’ Suki said as she ladled out a bowl for herself and Toph. ‘Toph was just filling us in on your training. That Azula really has it out for you!’

‘If you ever need someone to teach her a lesson, Katara, I’ll be there!’ Sokka cried, puffing out his chest. 

‘Yeah, you’ll be there to watch Katara do it herself.’ Toph smirks as she accepts the bowl Suki hands her and sits down.

Sokka frowns as he pokes around the kitchen for something to eat. Suki rolls her eyes and swats him until he joins them on the couch.

‘So, are you ready to hear about our plans to get into the princess’ column?’ Sokka asks Katara.

‘Hold on, I just have to finish this. You guys talk among yourselves.’ Katara looks at the email in front of her, brow furrowed in concentration. It seems the princess herself has replied personally to Katara’s plea for help as well as writing the article for the whole school to see. 

to:  kataraswt@student.basingseuniversity. com  
from:  princess@bssubuzz.com 

Katara,

I hope the advice in the paper sufficed. Let me know if the problem persists. If all else fails, at least our offices will be busy writing stories about it.

Regards,   
Princess.

Katara’s brows furrow as she considers the princess’s words. They aren’t exactly disparaging and instead convey amusement. She considers this for a few moments as she mindlessly reads emails from professors before joining in with her friends as they weave their story.

The next day they’re studying together after class. Studying is a loose term for most of them, and Katara feels like she’s the only one actually getting some work done. Toph is leaning back in her chair, molding a floating stone. Suki is shouting words at her, presumably guessing the shape of the stone. Sokka is bobbing his head enthusiastically as he shows Aang his favorite girl punk bands, and Aang is reading quietly as he listens.

Katara sits back after finishing an essay for her criminal justice class, satisfied by the way the ink dries on the page. She re-reads the princess’ email slowly, deciding to take it as a joke. Katara taps out a reply absentmindedly,

to: princess@bssubuzz.com  
from:  kataraswt@student.bssu.com 

thanks for the advice haha. me and my friends love your column, its the only thing in that paper worth reading. you mentioned going through something similar with a colleague, how did you deal with it?

Katara

She hits send before she can second-guess it and turns to Suki.

‘Quiz me?’ she asks, brandishing her color-coded flash cards. Suki rolls her eyes slightly, mocking Katara’s organisation before reading from the cards.

Katara’s about halfway through when there’s a commotion at the entrance. Someone seems to have knocked over a stand of books, and out of the rubble emerges Azula and her cronies, Mai and Ty Lee.

Katara turns back to Suki, rolling her eyes as she shakes off the intrusion. 

‘You know this one! When was the Dai Li dissolved?’ Suki asks.

‘54 AG!’ Toph shrieks.

‘The second century’ Sokka smirks as he pulls out an earbud.

‘Guys! Shh! You’re right Suki, I know this one.’ Katara wracks her brains for the answer.

‘Trick question. It was dissolved after the war in year 1, but reformed after the earth queen got worried about usurpers in 76.’ Azula drawls from behind Katara. She resists the urge to scream as she rolls her eyes and turns around.

‘Well if it isn’t our favorite teammate Azula!’ Toph exclaims. ‘What brings you to our humble abode?’

‘This is a library, Toph.’ Katara says. ‘Thanks so much for the help, Azula, but I’d prefer to study alone.’

Azula smirks, the red of her lips looking even more like blood. ‘Anytime. See you this afternoon for training.’ She turns away, friends in tow.

‘Tui and La!’ She cries in frustration. ‘Can you see why I dislike her so much? She’s such a know-it-all.’

All four of them laugh between themselves. ‘Hey! What’s so funny!’ Katara asks.

‘It’s just that…’ Aang starts, ever the pragmatist. ‘You and her are completely alike.’

Katara gapes and tries to refute it, only to be cut off by Suki. ‘Admit it! You would have done the same if the roles were reversed.’

She huffs into her chair, burying her face in her phone in an effort to ignore their guffaws.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a few things:  
> \- i've decided to do weekly updates on wednesday but, lucky for you, i live a few timezones ahead of america and europe.  
> \- i forgot to make an Actual timeline so here you see them refer to it as the third century. this is the second century after sozins comet, where the fire nation military was stopped from committing genocide and all that horrible stuff.  
> \- i guess since there was no war they suddenly have computers and bigger universities. yay!  
> \- airbending still isnt part of probending bc they're nomadic and monastic and wouldn't get caught up in sport like that (but of course this decision was made by the abbots and not the young airbenders who Love probending)
> 
> comments and kudos are always appreciated! come bug me on twitter @kyoshixrangi or tumblr zukka-supremacy.
> 
> see u next week!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First team bending practice, team bonding, and the princess shows up again in Katara's emails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the support so far, it's really helping keep me motivated. of course as soon as i set up a schedule i forget to post lol

Katara and Toph say goodbye to their friends a few hours later, heading back towards the arena. Katara is dreading seeing Azula again, but resolves to put on a brave face. She desperately needs to learn how to modify her waterbending, and for now extra practice seems to be the only way she’ll learn.

They’re a little early, and Katara checks her emails for a response from Princess. She taps on the response, hoping it will bolster her mood before she spends the afternoon in Azula’s haughty presence.

To:  kataraswt@student.bssu.com  
From:  princess@bssubuzz.com

If I knew how to solve my troubles I wouldn’t be writing in the school paper, trust me. I’m in an almost identical situation, but still I can’t seem to negotiate a better outcome.

It doesn’t help that we’re from two different nations, so our cultural differences seem to exacerbate any momentary dispute. I wonder, sometimes, if we should all get lessons on each of the four nations before we start the term, especially in the international hub that is Ba Sing Se. 

Do you think your issues stem from somewhere similar? What are your exact problems with this girl - maybe I could help?

Princess.

Azula had made it pretty damn obvious that the two were from completely different cultures. How many times in the past two weeks alone had she called her ‘water tribe’ as if it was an insult? Katara just needed to think of a way to connect them, a way to unify their common beliefs.

Fire and water - it was going to be nearly impossible to make the two mix. But a plan was hatching slowly in her mind.

Katara walks onto the mats and starts bending, swirling water around herself gently to stretch. She feels a presence behind her and smirks.

‘Impressed yet?’ Katara reaches out a stream of water as she turns to Azula, creating a rotating loop that encases the pair of them. Azula has stopped her katas - or maybe she finished - and now stands staring at Katara with an intensity she can’t quite place.

The moment stretches, taut, between the two, before Toph bursts into the room.

‘Quit flirting, Katara. Let’s get started!’ The tiny girl roars. Katara blushes and mumbles to herself once she drops the water, face burning as she turns away from Azula.

They gather in the centre of the ring, Azula immediately launching into a lecture about their performance in the practice match.

‘You made a fool of us, and I hope you’re both sorry.’ She held her hand up as Katara opened her mouth to interject. ‘No matter. Today, we’ll be working on your bending styles. I’ve noticed that both of you struggle with sticking to the rules because it’s so unnatural compared to the way you usually bend.’

Azula strolled to the first zone. ‘Toph, you need to keep the disks in their original form. No dust, no funny shapes, just the round disks. Katara, you need to practice bending water as short, sharp bursts. You can’t use ice, steam or put earth inside the water.’

Toph picked her fingernails as Azula explained. Katara was paying closer attention, a little irritated at being told what to do.

‘The two of you can face off against me. I’ll go easy on you, don’t worry.’ Azula smirked as she took up a fighting stance across from the two. 

Katara and Toph shrugged at each other before settling into their bending stances. Katara sent out a whip, grabbing Azula by the ankle and tripping her up. Toph sent a disk flying over Azula’s head like a frisbee.

Chastised, Azula stood back up. ‘Alright, maybe one-on-one is more appropriate. Toph, you go first.’

Katara sat at the side of the arena, cheering Toph on whenever she landed a hit against Azula. The firebender grew increasingly irritated, especially seeing as Toph could now miraculously keep the disks in their original form.

‘Yes Toph! Get her!’ Katara cheers, trying to annoy Azula. She seems to succeed as Azula irritatedly blows a stray hair out of her face, stopping her match with Toph.

‘Do you mind?’ Azula turns to Katara. ‘We’re meant to be something of a team.’

‘Anything you say, your highness.’ Katara rolls her eyes.

Azula glares at her. ‘Alright Toph, let’s give Katara a turn.’ She says it like she wasn’t just nearly beat by the earthbender.

‘Trust me, I won’t go easy on you.’ Katara takes her stance across from Azula, narrowing her eyes at her. 

‘Me neither.’ Azula smirks, sending out a jet of fire to begin the match. 

Katara sends out whip after whip, trying to modify her bending to suit the rules. Azula calls her on her mistakes with a wicked glint in her eyes, reaching out relentlessly with her fire for the other girl. Katara meets her every strike, thrilled to be facing someone actually competent. The practice matches yesterday were child’s play: today, water rushed around her, soothing and exhilarating her in equal measure as she faced off against the fearsome firebender.

Katara supposed she was breaking the rules of probending, darting forward into Azula’s space. They were facing opposite directions to where they started, and Toph had long since tired of critiquing their form. It was like a dance, push and pull, as they fought tooth and nail to win some undefined prize.

At some point during the match, Azula’s flame begins burning a brilliant blue. Katara, realising that the colour correlates to a fiercer heat, pauses for a moment before rising to the challenge with a fire of her own in her eyes. She was lost in the thrill of the fight, her confidence growing exponentially with each splash of water she landed on Azula’s body.

Azula’s hair had long since fallen out of its neat bun, and when Katara pulled her close with a water whip she could see the exertion plainly in her reddened cheeks and the sweat on her brow. Vindicated, she feels a little feral as she unleashes more attacks on the girl. Unlike their fight at try-outs this one isn’t fueled by a personal need for justice but by their mutual joy at sparring a worthy and willing partner.

Katara jumps over an arc of fire, retaliating with a spurt of water to Azula’s head. Azula flinches as the water soaks her hair, panting hard as she stands face to face with Katara. Their faces are level, and Katara can see each bead of sweat as they drip down the side of Azula’s face.

Katara watches with a morbid sort of fascination as Azula grows increasingly uncomfortable in her wet clothes. Distractedly, she bends the water out of her gear and hair, watching closely for a reaction. Azula seems relieved, meeting Katara’s eyes with an expression of gratitude on her sharp features.

‘I feel like at least one of Katara’s hits lasted longer than one second.’ Toph says, clearly bored at the lack of motion. She’s picking at the gunk in her toenails, prompting Katara to make a disgusted face as she turns away from the fight. The three of them trudge off to the changerooms, Azula deigning it appropriate that they finish for the night.

Katara thinks slowly over the fight while she washes away the ash and sweat that has accumulated on her skin. She hadn’t kept many of her hits to less than one second, as the rules required, especially once Toph and Azula stopped calling her on it. Azula, on the other hand, was forceful and precise with her short spurts of fire. She supposed it came more naturally given the nature of firebending, something that sparked an idea in the recesses of her mind.

Once they’re all in the lobby Katara launches her latest plan to coax cooperation from the unlikely team that they make.

‘Alright, it’s team bonding time. Are both of you down to get some boba?’ Katara asks, somewhat nervous that Azula will dismiss the suggestion.

Azula rolls her eyes. ‘Of course not, we can’t drink that much milk right after training.’ She looks to Toph as if hoping she’ll agree, but the earthbender is already leading them out the door.

‘Sure we can, majesty. Besides, we still need to pick out a team name!’ Toph yells, brash as ever.

Huffing, Azula falls into step beside Katara, who is beaming. Toph leads the way to the Jasmine Dragon while Katara and Azula walk in silence.

Katara watches Azula from the corner of her eye. The fierce woman stares ahead, nose in the air as she marches on. There’s something militaristic about the way she carries herself, prompting Katara to wonder about her upbringing in the Fire Nation. 

Azula seems to catch her staring and smirks to herself as they walk under the sodium haze of streetlamps. Katara forces herself to say something to break the tension and show Azula that she was justified in her staring.

‘So. Firebenders and waterbenders have similar rules, right?’ Katara turns more obviously towards Azula as she works herself up to the question. Azula only raises an eyebrow in response, and Katara forges on. ‘One-second blasts only.’

‘I see you’ve read the rules, water tribe. Very nice.’ Azula says, mockingly impressed. Katara prickles at the nickname, another reminder of their stark differences.

‘I was thinking maybe tomorrow you could give me some tips on waterbending. I know that short blasts come pretty naturally to firebenders, but I’m sure that from today’s match you could tell that waterbending is much more fluid and elongated, like water itself. Even watching you do your katas,’ here Azula raises her brow even higher, ‘I can see that you move in a way that’s pretty similar to waterbending sometimes. I’m sure I could learn a lot from you, and maybe someday you could learn from me.’ Katara is inordinately proud of herself for getting through the short speech without much of a hitch and smiles to herself.

There’s a short silence as Azula thinks for a moment. ‘We have the arena booked for tomorrow, I’m sure I could show you a few moves.’ Katara smiles to herself. ‘Funny you should mention learning from other elements. I don’t suppose you’re familiar with lightning bending?’ Azula looks at Katara sideways as she shakes her head. ‘My uncle perfected it in his military days. He said he learnt from the waterbending masters in the north, and incorporated their characteristic movements into the control of lightning.’ They reached the storefront, Toph already inside and chatting to Iroh. ‘Strange to think he spends his days making tea for teenagers now.’ 

Azula pushed inside, leaving Katara dumbstruck with the idea of Iroh as some kind of war hero (or criminal). She hurries to follow, only catching the tail-end of Toph’s conversation with the man.

‘Well, he who bends all his stones at once is never unarmed against a firebender.’ Iroh concludes, leaving Azula and Katara mystified as Toph nods along sagely. ‘Azula! How wonderful to see you’ve brought some friends. And not just from the Fire Nation! I feel you are finally becoming worldly.’ Azula rolls her eyes but smiles at the old man.

‘Uncle, meet Katara and Toph. We’re on the same probending team.’ Azula says, gesturing to the trio.

‘We’ve met before. It’s great to see you again, Katara. Can I get you something to drink?’ 

They place their orders and find a table near the windows, crammed together on the seats. Toph immediately goes to put her feet up and Azula recoils in horror at the grime on her bare feet. Katara just laughs at the woman before pulling another table over to add some distance between them and Toph’s feet.

‘So… What terrible activity do you have planned for our team bonding?’ Azula asks, clearly unamused.

“I was hoping we could at least get to know each other, talk about our interests, hobbies, whatever.’ Katara replies, trying to seem nonchalant.

‘I think we should be called the lesbian moose lions.’ Toph says, completely deadpan.

‘Somehow I don’t think the Earth Kingdom university we all attend will approve.’ Azula replies, lip curling.

‘Besides, some of us are straight.’ Katara adds.

‘That better be a joke, Katara. I can tell you’re lying.’ Toph replies.

‘Not me! Azula, dumbass.’ Katara lowers her voice to a whisper, suddenly conscious of the couple sitting across the room. They seem pretty… entangled, though, so it should be fine.

Azula, inexplicably, blushes. ‘Honestly, I’m kind of offended that you think I’m straight. I mean you, of all people…’ Azula looks her up and down, clearly judging her outfit of leggings and a t-shirt.

‘Just because I’m not some stereotypical cottagecore mean lesbian doesn’t mean I’m straight.’ Katara huffs.

‘Oh I think you’re plenty mean. Remember when Aang-’ Toph is cut off by Katara’s hand slapping over her mouth, which she immediately begins licking like a dog. Katara is disgusted.

‘Please, tell me more.’ Azula drawls, eyes alight with mirth.

Katara smiles at a worker as she sets down their plastic cups, hand still fixed over Toph’s mouth.

‘I was thinking we go with something to do with dragons… danger dragons?’ Katara loudly interrupts, hoping to change the subject.

‘I will be hearing about this Aang story.’ Azula says to Toph over the server’s arm before turning back to Katara. ‘Dragons are certainly an attractive image. Danger, though? Surely it should be dangerous dragons.’

‘Nah, that sounds lame.’ Toph replies. ‘How about deadly dragons?’ 

‘Hmm. I like it!’ Katara responds. ‘We can have a dragonfly bunny spirit as our mascot.’

‘Or just an actual dragon.’ Azula replies, chuckling at Katara’s stupidity.

They bicker about names, uniforms and mascots until the store closes, Iroh reminding Azula that she has an early shift the next day. They part ways, and Katara all but collapses into bed once she arrives at her tiny apartment.

She tiredly opens up her laptop, checking to see if any assignments have been graded in the time since the library. She stumbles across the princess’ message and re-reads it, confident that she did all she could to lessen the cultural differences between herself and Azula during training. 

The chat box at the bottom of her screen blinks a green light, the princess’ name flashing at her. Katara decides to message her rather than send an overly formal email response - her advice had, after all, helped immensely.

Katara: hey, thanks for the advice. I think we actually bonded over our differences for once.

Princess: of course, it’s no trouble. Even after two years i can’t manage to navigate the earth kingdom bureaucracy let alone make friends with people from other nations.  
Princess: it must be even harder, coming from the southern water tribe.

Katara frowns at that, not sure what the princess is referring to. She’s heard the same old racist remarks for years, that people from the water tribe aren’t as sophisticated or intelligent as people from other, more ‘developed’ nations (though she disagrees with their idea of progress), and she’s wary of the way the princess automatically assumes she’s somehow less than. She decides to take the comment in good faith, though, given that the woman has made a name for herself by giving advice to students from all four nations.

Katara: i guess i got lucky, some of my friends are from the earth kingdom and helped me enrol, find housing etc.   
Katara: but its definitely weird seeing how restrictive Ba Sing Se is. The university is pretty tolerant but i know some of my friends have felt really unsafe in some parts of the city

Princess: eh, not too different to where I’m from. Where I lived, if you so much as looked at the wrong person in the wrong way you could get thrown in jail.

Katara supposes the princess must be from the fire nation, knowing how free-flowing the air nomads are. She had never suspected it would be so bad, though. She notes the past tense, adding it to the suddenly growing mental file she hadn’t realised she was keeping on the woman.

Katara: that’s so messed up.. in the south, we don’t have any police to impose arbitrary laws. we’re all expected to stay loyal to each other and help out with hunting, building, caring… it’s a much better system in my opinion.

Princess: but surely that doesn’t work. What if someone slacks off? What if someone commits a crime? How do you maintain law and order over such a large group?

Katara is far too used to these comments from ignorant northerners who grew up in massive cities with no idea about community. She supposes her childhood was quite different to that of a Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom citizen, and again avoids the temptation to become immediately irritated by the other woman. Surely she just knows no different.

Katara: i think you’re overcomplicating it lol. each member of a tribe is accountable to the other members, so if someone slacks off we tell them to stop. studying law here was honestly such a culture shock, we don’t have any arbitrary laws like fraud or banning homosexuality because its just not relevant.

Princess: Sounds idyllic. How does the government pay for public infrastructure? And what if someone does commit a crime, is there a legal system at all?

Katara: of course we have a justice system, why do u think im studying law lol. i wanna reform it a little with my dad’s help because at the moment it’s pretty disjointed. but yes, we hold each other accountable for any crimes and then if someone is accused we hold a fair trial in front of the tribe.

Princess: And I suppose you assume criminals are all ‘innocent unless proven guilty’, right?

Katara: yeah, unlike Earth Kingdom neutrality. As I said, very different to the water tribes.

Katara closes her laptop and gets ready for bed, all the while thinking about the Princess. There was something judgemental about the way she wrote about the water tribes, but she had been receptive to Katara’s explanations. She supposed that kind of tolerance was exactly why she had her own column in the paper.

Sighing, she turns in for the night, mentally listing the thousand-and-one things she’d have to leave until the next day. Her muscles were sore, and it wasn’t hard for her to fall into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments and kudos are so so appreciated! I'll be back soon with chapter five!
> 
> also! the bit about 'innocent until proven guilty' - in chinese law people aren't innocent OR guilty before their trial, the whole point is that the trial will determine that. very much a 'neutral jing' parallel imo.
> 
> fight me on twitter @kyoshixrangi or tumblr @zukka-supremacy <3


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